Lecture one

Introduction to Medical Mycology

Definition
 Eukaryotic
 Initiate disease in human and animals fungi
 Yeast or mold or both

mold

yeast
Disadvantage and advantage
 Over 400,000 species
 150 species cause disease
 Other non pathogenic species emerged
 Food spoilage
 Plant disease, destroy tumber, textile
 Decay plant and animals in soil
 Production of antibiotics
 Organic acids, soya sauce
 Genetic and biochemical scientific model
Habitat
 free living
 few are normal flora
 infection originated from exogenous
 traumatic or inhalation
 don't contain chlorophyll
 can’t synthesize macromolecules from CO2
 lead a heterotrophic existing
 saprobes, symbionts, commensal, parasites
Pathogenicity of fungi
 A bunch of fungi can cause disease due to
 ability to adapt to host tissues
 dermatophytes (metabolize keratin)
 systemic fungi grow at 37Ć
 and survive at low oxidation reduction state
 some fungi have capsule
Structure of fungi
 Cell wall
 chitin and glucan
 Plasma membrane
 ergosterol
 Nucleus
 Double membrane with pores
 rich in RNA
 Cytoplasm
 mitochondria, vacules and so on
Morphology of fungi
 Eukaryotic
 non motile
 reproduce by spores
 form mold or yeast
 depending on fungal species
 growth condition
Mold form
 spore germinate
 Filament (hyphae)
 Divide by septa
 Uni or multinucleated
 Some fungi have no septa (Coenocytic hyphae)
 Zygomycota
 Mycelium
 A mass of hyphae
 Aerial mycelium
 Submerged mycelium
Types of septa
 Simple solid plate with out pores
 With single pores
 With several pores (sieve-like appearance)
 Ascomycota and Deuteromycota
 Barrel shaped apparatus called dolipore
 Hook-like bridge between cells (clamp-connection)
 Basidiomycota
 Mycelium arrangement
 Simple
 Form complex tissue
 Hyphae loss its individuality
 Take column, rope, ball and other forms
Types of Septa
Yeast form
 Spore germinate
 Oval, round, elongated single cell
 Reproduce by budding
 Some by fission
 Moist or mucoid colonies
 Pseudohyphae
 True hyphae
 Depend on growth condition and species
Dimorphic fungi
 Important mycotic agents
 Yeast form in host tissue (37Ć) or in vivo
 Mold or mycelium in 25Ć or environment
 Histoplasma capsulatum, Sporothrix schenckii
 Some have spherules with endospores
 Coccidiodes immitis
 Some produce sclerotia bodies (chromo-)
 Some produce tick conidia (adiaspore)
 Never reproduce inside host
 Emmonisa parva
Morphology of Dimorphic fungi

Histoplasma
Paracoccidiodes

Coccidiodes

Chromoblastomycosis
Blastomycosis
Growth
 Mycelium
 Grow equally in all direction
 Circular colony in solid medium
 Globose colony in liquid medium
 Most fungi grow at 25Ć
 Some are grow at 37-50Ć
 Aspergillus fumigatus, Cladosporium trichoides
 PH
 6.6 to 6.8
Nutritional requirements
 Absorb rather than digest
 Require organic compounds
 Facultative parasites
 Few are obligate parasites
 Rhinosporidium seeberi
 Loboa loboi
 Carbohydrates (glucose)
 Organic or inorganic nitrogen (ammonium compounds)
 Some require vitamins (anthropophilic dermatophytes)
Reproduction
 Asexual (anamorphic state)
 In filaments fungi
 Free cell formation inside sporangium
 Zygomycota
 Zygospores
 Budding out as new structure
 Fragmentation of the fertile hyphae
 Conidia (Ascomycota and Basidiomycota,
Deuteromycota
 Pattern of conidia
 Thallic conidia produce from entire parent cell
 Blastic conidia from part of parent cell
Asexual reproduction in mold form
Yeast
 Asexual reproduction
 Budding such as candida species
 Fission such as Pencillium marneffei

 Sexual reproduction (Teleomorph state)

 Zygomycota, Ascomycota and Basidiomycota
 Based on fruiting structure
 Fungi lacking sexual stage
 Deuteromycota (Fungi imperfectii)
Types of sexual reproduction
 Homothallic
 Thallus is self-fertile
 Heterothallic
 Thallus is self-sterile
 Stages of sexual reproduction
 Plasmokamy
 Karyokamy
 Meiosis
 Formation of diploid nucleus
 Mitosis to form haploid nucleus
 Sexual spores
Sexual reproduction in Zygomycota
Sexual spores
 Remain attach to hyphae
 Zygospores (Zygomycota)
 Rhizopus, Mucor and Absidia
 Remain in side sac called ascospores (Ascomycota)
 Histoplasma, Dermatophytes, Peidraia hortae
 Spore reside on basidium called basidiospores
 Basidiomycota
 Cryptococcus neoformans
Types of Sexual spores

zygospore

Basidiospores
Ascospores
Phylum of Deuteromycota
 Lacking sexual phase
 Candida species, Malassezia furfue
 Epidermophyton floccosum, American coccidiodes
 Classification or taxonomy of fungi
 Basic rank is species
 Grouped in system of genera
 Families, classes, phyla or division
 Kingdom
 Varieties
Filobasidiella neoformans
 Sexual stage of Cryptococcus neoformans
 Kingdom Fungi
 Phylum Basidiomycota
 Class Heterobasidiomycetes
 Order Filobasidiales
 Genera
 Species
 Varieties